[leisadent]

As a graphic designer, I'm in the fortunate position of getting most of my work through referrals from happy clients, however before that happens you need to get some clients in the first place.

So when it comes to marketing a new service business, I think the focus should be on letting prospective clients know "what's in it for me", eg. do you offer lower prices, better quality service, a more diverse range of services, and so on. Then think about who would benefit from becoming a client and market directly to them in a letter, for example, with a view to setting up a meeting.

In all my years doing business online, I've never - not once - used a service provider who contacted me via email without any research on my part. That spam line is very blurry, so I've never bothered trying to market myself through email.

The same goes for cold calling - who wants to be interrupted by a marketing call when they're busy? A letter can be read at the recipient's leisure and you can provide alot more information in one hit.

Press advertising may be helpful if it's highly targeted. For example, if you want to market to dog grooming businesses offering cartoon-style doggy logo designs, advertise in a dog grooming trade journal and forget the more general publications.

As for yellow pages - no offence Sensis, but only 1 call during 6 years in the printed directory.